BATMAN IS BACK ON THE CARTOON NETWORK!!!!

 

Thanx to CNX: Toonami Revolution - Batman: The Animated Series is getting more airtime on Cartoon Network; more accuratly, on Toonami. Toonami has a weekend block called Rising Sun  which airs shows in morning hours. airing from 9 AM to Noon EST/PST. Rising Sun will be changed this weekend. Not only will Ronin Warriors be dropped from the lineup, but also, the second airing of Gundam Wing is dropped as well.

 

So technically, Rising Sun is missing an hour. Surely they're not going to give that mutt an extra hour, so they've but in a American flavor to the block, one a familiar Midnight Run standby while the other is making its debut to Toonami (finally). Batman: The Animated Series airs on Rising Sun at 11 AM EST/PST while Powerpuff Girls ends Toonami at 11:30 AM EST/PST. This is the new Rising Sun. Check it out! Now you'l have something to watch besides Pokemon! The lineup, as of May 13, is:

 

9am-Thundercats (One Hour)
10am-Dragon Ball Z (The Garlic Jr. Saga)
10:30am-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
11am-Batman: The Animated Series
11:30am-Powerpuff Girls
(all times in Eastern Time

EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)

 

All of Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton's reviews of the new-style BTAS episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which link to "Two-Face's Tower of Tranquility and Terror":

 

MAIN PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BTAS PAGE: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFaceText/bats.html

 

The creative "team" for this column alternates between Zanna and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great friends of ours here.  Any other reviews printed here are written by editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton.  Enjoy!

 

(I decided to reprint a review of JUDGEMENT DAY in this issue, as this is the newsletter's second anniversary, and this is the most recent episode with a character who loves the number two in it. Enjoy!)

 

<BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES>
"JUDGMENT DAY"
Written by: Rich Fogel & Alan Burnett
Directed by: Curt Geda
Animation by: Dong Yang
Original air date: October 31, 1998
My rating: ****1/2

 

A new vigilante is in Gotham, and has sent the Riddler back to Arkham, the Penguin to the hospital in critical condition, and, if it weren't for Batman interfering, would have killed Killer Croc by tossing him off the Gotham Gate Bridge. Now, he's after Two-Face.

 

Cool premise huh? Much like in "Lock-Up", this episode introduces a new character who takes the law into his own hands, but goes too far. The new vigilante is known only as the Judge, a very Phantasm-esque character with a low booming voice, and dark, shadowy clothing; the only difference is that this person wears a judge's white curled wig and carries a large wooden hammer instead of a scythe.

 

We learn that a shifty politician at City Hall is using the Judge, much like how Commissioner Gordon uses Batman to rid the city of crime. Two-Face learns of this person's involvement with the judge, who had already booby-trapped his hideout and turned it into a lethal gas chamber, and demands information, before setting off to kill him.

 

Only in the final scenes do we see who the Judge really is.

 

This episode was nothing short of incredible. No one knew this was coming, and it is easily head and shoulders above the other best episodes of the season, "Old Wounds" and "Legends of the Dark Knight". In fact, the only new-style episode which tops it is last year's controversial "Over the Edge".

 

There are many good things in this episode. We get to see Batman work solo again, seeing someone finally come down hard on the Penguin was nice, and seeing how Penguin treats his "customers" was rather interesting - he respects Two-Face's intelligence and considers Killer Croc to be rather...well...a dim bulb. The sleazy politician which uses the judge to give
himself a better public image was nice, and the Judge's brutality was welcomed with open arms. Dong Yang's animation was suprisingly excellent here, and they even added some CGI work in the final battle. Seeing Alan Burnett return to writing was a wonderful suprise, too. The best thing, in my opinion, was that we finally get to see Two-Face as the centre of attention. Not since "Second Chance" has there been an episode that delves into his psyche like this. The scenes of where Batman and Two-Face actually work together to save themselves in the gas chamber were great - even though, once safe, Two-Face beat the crap outa Batman and took off. Even just visually speaking, Two-Face looks a lot better here than he did in "Sins of the Father".

 

In the final scene, we learn that Two-Face is the Judge. In fact, his good side has split into two personalities, and the extreme-good side, completely separate from the other two, has taken a vow to clean up crime in Gotham by whatever means necessary. (Remember, prior to his transformation, Harvey Dent was part of the judicial system, as District Attorney - so it was his crime-fightin' blood in the works here.) It's shocking to see what this suggests...if Two-Face can kill Killer Croc with his bare hands, does he qualify as the third-toughest man in
Gotham (behind only Batman and Bane, of course)?

 

The only bad point was the Riddler's tiny one-line cameo. Sure, he was only a back-up character, but all these cameos are taunting me - because I really wanted to get an entire Riddler episode.

 

I'm suprised this episode wrapped up so well in just 19.5 minutes! But it did!

 

This is all just a tip of the ice burg. The episode is great, and you'll love it, guaranteed. It's a mix of action, drama, and mystery, and wraps up perfectly with a really cool shot of Two-Face going crazy in his cell at Arkham.